Ryan Castilloux makes a living out of evaluating rare earth companies. Here, he explains some of the keys to his approach.

Junior venture companies in Canada are finally seeing a significant lift. In early January, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index rose above the 200-day moving average for the first time in three years. The index is also very close to experiencing a golden cross.

There are two ways to visualize the critical metals and industrial minerals sector. Some see a hostile climate, where junior mining companies compete for scarce financing dollars. But there's a sunnier side to this story: More than ever, companies, government and academia are forming partnerships to solve a global problem—the ongoing need for scarce critical materials.

We have been writing about the bottoming process of the Gold Bear Cycle since Dec. 4, 2013, and our most recent article on Dec. 26 reiterated that the best time to accumulate the Gold/Silver stocks was in the December and January window.

When the bulls are running for the doors, that is a sign that we have hit bottom and wise investors should hold on to their portfolios for the ride up. It may take a couple of resource war-addled years for gold and silver prices to move back to profitable levels, but the right companies could make money all the way up.

At first glance you might be a little discouraged by reading major bank after major bank release a lower forecast on the price of gold for 2014 and beyond. But knowing their track record of forecasting the gold price you might feel a lot better, and even see the possibility of a contrarian trade forming.

In 2011, equities were cheap compared to the overvalued gold miners. Now two year later the cycle is the reverse, gold miners are cheap compared to equities.

At the start of the year we asserted that the mining equities could lead the metals higher. Since then, the shares have roared higher while the metals have remained subdued. Gold has gained a bit but silver has really struggled. Why are the stocks performing so well if the metals are not confirming?

Eric Lemieux is a realist, which makes his optimistic outlook for miners in 2014 that much more compelling. Lemieux believes that with the wheat separated from the chaff over the past tumultuous year, the truly strong companies have emerged.

Amanda Van Dyke is confident that China's reforms will ensure that the commodity supercycle will continue for some time to come. Here, Van Dyke argues that investors should worry less about the right balance of specific commodities and more about the right mix of early-stage, development-stage and producing companies.